1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to data communication in computer systems, and more specifically relates to routing data traffic on other network links having a lower temperature when the temperature of a network link exceeds a threshold.
2. Background Art
Supercomputers and other multi-node computer systems continue to be developed to tackle sophisticated computing jobs. Multi-node computer systems often use multiple compute nodes coupled together in a common chassis. In one example, the computers or compute nodes are separate servers that are coupled by a common backbone within the chassis. In such systems, each server or compute node is a pluggable board that includes at least one processor, an on-board memory, and an Input/Output (I/O) interface. Further, the servers may be connected to a switch to expand the capabilities of the servers. For example, the switch may permit the servers to access additional Ethernet networks or Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) slots as well as permit communication between servers in the same or different chassis.
Multi-node computer systems sometime incorporate multiple network links to connect the compute nodes or servers of the system. The temperature of the network link is proportional to the workload of the link. The performance of the network link is dependent on temperature. So as the temperature rises, the network link may experience increased loss of data packets in the data communication over the network link.